Around 45 square miles of giant reed needed to supply Chemtex’s NC plant

In North Carolina, the potential ethanol plant in Sampson County that Chemtex is exploring developing would require 45 square miles, or roughly 30,000 acres, of giant reed. Most local research on the crop has been on nitrogen and phosphorus uptake rather than on its invasiveness. It hasn’t been listed on the state’s noxious weed list, however.